Curable polymeric materials are used in a wide variety of dental applications, including restoratives, cements, adhesives, and the like. Often, such materials shrink upon curing. This is particularly problematic when the material is in a constrained environment, as in a dental filling or restorative, for example. Dimensional changes upon shrinkage while in a constrained environment can generate a strain within the material that is typically converted into a stress on the surrounding environment (e.g., tooth). Such forces can result in interfacial failures between the tooth and the polymeric material resulting in a physical gap and subsequent microleakage into the tooth cavity. Alternatively, such forces can lead to fractures within the tooth and/or the composite.
Generally, conventional processes of curing polymeric dental materials involve a composite held in place on an oral surface with an adhesive and involve curing the adhesive and then subsequently curing the composite material. More specifically, conventional methods utilize one or more of the following steps: surface treatment of the tooth (e.g., etching, priming), application of a curable adhesive to the tooth surface, curing of the adhesive, placement of a composite material (e.g., restorative) on the cured adhesive, and curing of the composite material. There is a need for dental materials, e.g., dental adhesives and dental composites, that reduce the amount of stress placed on the dental material and the surrounding environment during or after curing.